Tech Stuff: Toys for Travel
You’re traveling. You want to be connected. What do you take? My husband and I travel pretty regularly, and we travel fully equipped to participate in a computerized world.
I travel with an 11″ MacBook Air, an iPad2, and an iPhone5 (32G). My husband travels with a 15″ Sony desktop replacement laptop, an HP100 battery powered Bluetooth printer, a portable scanner, a Toshiba Excite tablet, and an iPhone5 (16G). Yes, he travels with full desktop publishing capabilities that fit into a rolling briefcase.
When the time comes, I will upgrade the 11″ Air to a 13″ Air for more screen real estate, but other than that, I’m very happy with the Air. When I can justify it, I’ll upgrade the iPad to the Retina version, because you can tell the difference at a glance. I’m also anxious to get my iThings onto the Lightning connector and off the 30-pin beast. For mobility, my iPhone has mostly replaced the iPad, but when I’m not on the move, the iPad is great for web browsing, checking email, reading, and other internet-intensive activities. If a lot of typing is involved or I need to access NBA All-Access, the Air is essential. I do have a keyboard that works well in a pinch for the iPad or the iPhone. The iPhone has also become my mobile hotspot.
Mr. L doesn’t use his iPhone for anything more than a phone or a mobile hot spot. He noticed a few of the standard apps the other day. “Hey, this could be used as an alarm clock.” “Yes, Dear. I use it for that all the time.” He still uses his watch when calculating a tip. He hasn’t quite accepted the calculator capability on the phone yet, even though his last three phones have all had that capability. (I prefer to calculate tips in my head–10% x 2, subtract a little is less than happy with the service, round up if we are pleased.) He hasn’t bothered to get an iTunes account, and I expect he’s unlikely to in the future. For his Excite tablet, he uses the free version of Google Play, which has not, to my knowledge, required him to submit a credit card (which he’s understandably reluctant to do — something I wish Apple would embrace).
All-in-all, we travel pretty well connected, electronically speaking. How about you? Is that something that’s important to you, or do you look forward to getting away from the electronics when you travel?